For the woman that wants it all, Crème Bralée Lingerie is giving away a lingerie set valued up to $65 through the brand’s new “Pin it to Win It” Valentine’s Day Pinterest Contest. The Contest runs through tomorrow, February 4, 2014. Fans of the sexy, full-busted brand have the opportunity to express their originality by creating a dedicated Pinterest board representing the theme #HaveYourCake.

On February 4th, the brand’s designer, Liz Marrell, will select one winner to receive a Crème Bralée set (valued up to $65 USD.) The winner will receive her new lingerie set just in time for the hottest holiday of the year — Valentine’s Day!

Everyone will interpret #HaveYourCake differently. Is it Sweet? Erotic? Lustful? Passionate? Alluring? Full of Fascination and Fantasy? Intriguing? This contest gives entrants the opportunity to reveal their own personality and desires in interpreting this theme. The brand itself offers imagery to inspire and motivate entrants to explore their own vision of having it all.

“Have Your Cake” can mean many things, sweet, erotic, lustful, passionate, fantasy, etc. To me, the well known phrase, ‘Have your cake and eat it too’, can be positively empowering- being able to do what you want when you want, especially on Valentine’s Day,” says Crème Bralée’s Design and Creative Director, Liz Marrell. “Go on a romantic date or have a girls night out. Buy lingerie for someone else or wear it for yourself – you can be your own Valentine if you desire! Also, desserts and lingerie have always gone hand in hand on V-Day. I post a weekly ‘Better Than Sex Dessert’ photo every week on our social media and I’d love to see what everyone comes up with for Valentine’s Day.”

Crème Bralée was created by Q-T Intimates, makers of fine lingerie for over 68 years, to fill a void in the plus sized market and offer a fashion-forward line of bras and panties available in an extensive size range, full-busted and full-figured women will have no problem filling their wardrobes with the lingerie they’ve been lusting over. Crème Bralée is available in those hard-to-find sizes of 32-46, C-G cup.

“Our Crème Bralée collection offers an amazing assortment – inspired by luxury and opulence. We concentrated on the details of styling and fit and had every woman’s shape and need in mind when designing the fabulous new line,” said Meryl Kutzin, VP of Merchandising. “Each piece celebrates a shapely and curvy figure.”

Create your own Pinterest Board with the theme #HaveYourCake and title it Crème Bralée. Your Board must contain a minimum of 12 “Pins.” Be as creative as you can!

Post the link to your Crème Bralée Pinterest Board on Crème Bralée’s Facebook Page between today and February 7, 2014. (Feel free to tell us a bit about your vision and/or inspiration when posting your link.)

Where possible, use the hashtag #HaveYourCake.

Only ONE entry per person.

Please use wise discretion. Do not include pornographic or violent images in your Crème Bralée Pinterest Board. You can “push the envelope,” but please don’t go over the edge. Since this is subjective, if you need clarification, please contact us before posting your board.

Boards which are deemed pornographic or violent will be deleted from Crème Bralée Facebook page and the entrant will be disqualified from the contest.

Eligibility Requirements:

Must be age 18 or older

Must currently reside in the United States & U.S. territories, Canada, or the United Kingdom.

Must not currently be an employee of Crème Bralée, their immediate families, marketing / pr affiliates or third party suppliers.

The Prize:

The Crème Bralée team will judge the submissions and select the winner.

Winner will be selected on or about February 8, 2014.

Winner will be contacted via Facebook message.

Winner must respond to confirm acceptance of the Prize no later than February 9, 2014.

Winner selection is final.

There will be only 1 (one) winner.

Winner will be announced on Crème Bralée’s Facebook Page no later than February 9, 2014.

Winner will receive a Crème Bralée lingerie set (valued up to $65).

Prize will be shipped via USPS, UPS or FEDEX and is expected to reach the winner no later than February 14, 2014.

Returns will not be accepted unless the product is damaged/defective.

About Crème Bralée

Launched in late 2013, Crème Bralée Lingerie is an intimates collection designed for the full-busted, curvy woman and offers retailers an extensive size range of fashion-forward bras and panties at competitive price points.

Please join me on Wednesday, May 15th for an Intimate Affair featuring Crème Bralée Lingerie. View the all new Crème Bralée collection – inspired by luxury and opulence – each piece celebrates a shapely and curvy figure. Meet the designers and manufacturers behind the brand and mingle with fellow Intimate Insiders while sipping pink bubbly and sweet French treats. This event is exclusively for buyers/retailers and the media/press. For an Event Invitation, Contact Us here.

About Crème Bralée Lingerie and Q-T Intimates: The Crème Bralée Lingerie collection is designed and manufactured by Q-T Intimates. Since 1945, Q-T has been specializing in all categories of intimates; from basics and fashion sets, to bridal, nursing, sleepwear, dancewear, and shapewear. Q-T Intimates is also the licensee for La Leche League International Intimates (LLLI), under which they design and manufacture a fabulous line of nursing intimate apparel, perfect for the fashion conscious, breastfeeding mother. In addition to the many exciting brands that Q-T offers, they continue to supply many top retailers with private label programs – designing, fitting, and manufacturing to each client’s needs.

About Moira Nelson & Bra La Mode: Moira Nelson has worked in the wholesale Intimate Apparel industry for over a decade and is the founder of Bra La Mode, a resource site for professionals in the Lingerie industry and related fields. Bra La Mode takes a look inside Intimates by hosting unique intimate apparel related events and provides services specific to the lingerie industry. The site features event coverage of Intimate Affairs, intimate interviews with Intimate Insiders, and opinion pieces providing Intimate Insights. BraLaMode.com reaches hundreds of consumers, buyers, lingerie retail store owners, independent lingerie designers, wholesale manufacturers, influential lingerie bloggers, and other intimate apparel professionals (as well as those in related fields) on a daily basis.

All too often curvaceous women have to settle for ill-fitting, frumpy looking bras while their smaller counterparts get to enjoy the luxury of fashion forward designs. Dora Lau, president of Dora L. Inc., became frustrated with the small selection of beautiful, well priced bras for full figured women and decided to launch Curvy Couture, a collection that uses the latest technologies to create intimate apparel that enhances a woman’s curves and makes her feel wonderful.

After graduating from FIDM, Dora Lau started her career in Full Figure eveningwear. This experience working with beautiful, luxurious fabrics gave her the push to begin working in the intimate apparel industry. Since then, Dora has been manufacturing bras for top brands for over 25 years, including the likes of Victoria’s Secret and Lane Bryant.

The brand offers solutions to women who all too often have to compromise themselves by wearing bras and panties that do not fit correctly. Oftentimes this results in pained shoulders from straps that are too tight and dig into the skin. Curvy Couture offers products that lift the bosom and allow women to feel confident showing their curves without hiding under loose tops.

Curvy Couture has been in the making for many years, but only recently has Dora been able to set aside the funds to make her dream of offering affordable and beautiful bras to full figured women a reality. Launching the new label and branching out into e-commerce offers customers the latest fabrics and trims utilizing the latest innovation and technology to enhance fit and comfort. “Retail stores have been reluctant to carry curvy lingerie nor do they have a special section to service my customer. I believe e-commerce is the best way to reach out to my girls. She will enjoy the luxury of fitting our bras with total privacy at home, or wherever she prefers, and does not have to deal with the pressure of being intruded by sales associates in stores,” says Dora.

Dora grew up in the world of entertainment, with her parents owning a record label in Hong Kong. She was able to be very much involved with the dressing of her parents’ singers for performances and gained an appreciation for fashion and flair. As a result, it came as no surprise that inspiration for the launch collection came from Hollywood glamour and the Art Deco era.

One of the most intimidating aspects of purchasing a bra online is the fear that it will not fit. However, Dora has done away with this fear by offering a unique feature called Pick 2 on Curvy Couture’s e-commerce site that allows women to choose two bras to test for size and fit. The bra that does not work is simply returned.

Currently Curvy Couture offers styles in C-DD cup sizes, but Dora plans on expanding the size range to include F, G, and H cups in spring 2013. Other endeavors for the brand include producing a line of sports bras that are easy to put on without causing a heart attack to take off as well as a line of light shapewear that is easy to wear and provides sculpture for curves.

It will certainly be exciting to see how the brand develops throughout this coming year and beyond. The lingerie industry could definitely use more entrepreneurs like Dora who realize that full figured women want to celebrate their curves and not hide them.

ClosetDash Shop and the leading blog for full-busted women, Hourglassyare excited to sponsor the first event of its kind, a Busty Clothing Swap from 11am-2pm on Saturday, October 20th, for women who wear dress sizes 2-16 and bra cups D and higher, at ClosetDash Shop’s new space on the fourth floor of 30 E. 20th Street in Manhattan, NYC.

“Forty women with similar body types in the same room means everyone should be able to find something she loves that fits,” says Darlene Campbell, founder of the full-busted clothing line Campbell & Kate and creator of the blog Hourglassy. “We also have amazing raffle and gift bag items from some of the best full-bust brands out there.” In addition, Bottomless Closet will be in attendance to accept donations of clothing.

Finding clothing that fits is a perpetual challenge for women with small backs (a 28-36 bra band) who wear D cups and higher. Campbell began her blog in 2008 to help full-busted women discover the lingerie and clothing lines that cater specifically to them. When she blogged about attending ClosetDash Shop’s first swap in May, she realized there was enough interest for a large-bust-specific swap.

It was only a matter of time before ClosetDash Shop’s founder, Jennifer Lee, approached her about co-sponsoring such an event. “There’s potential for more body-specific swaps in the future,” says Lee. “Swaps already have a fun sense of community, but imagine the shared laughter in a room full of tall women, or women with large hips, or really petite women?”

Participants will be charged a $10 admission fee and should bring up to ten items of clothing in sizes 2-16. Advanced registration is recommended, at www.cdsbustyswap.eventbrite.com.

A year ago this week I finally decided to make a major change in my life and set out to lose 85 pounds. As of today I’ve lost 57 pounds, dropped three sizes and my waist is almost 8 inches smaller. Even more important is that as I began to experience positive progress with this goal, I was encouraged to make some other changes in the rest of my life. Today I am a much happier woman who is very excited to see what new surprises await this year and the years to come.

Given all this weight I’ve been losing, it was inevitable that my bras, like most of my wardrobe, would start to become too big for me. At a house party one weekend, I met two fellow busty gals, Brittany and Lisa, who told me about this place called Jenette’s Bras which sold to D cups and above only. I was excited to check out this store and when I needed to replace some of my now too big bras, I decided to take the subway down to their East Hollywood location.

Located in the Bike District, near LA City College, this shop is no regular rack store. Instead I walked into a waiting room furnished à la Mad Men, complete with vintage Playboy and Life magazines and a nice display of bras from my favorite label, Prima Donna. The woman sitting at what looked like a receptionist’s desk had me fill out a card with my info and then take a seat.

After a short wait, Sara escorted me back to the dressing room area and started sizing me up. No tape measures here, just some questions about what I was looking for, what size I had been and an eyeball of how my Fantasie bra was now fitting me gave her all the information she needed. She handed me what turned out to be the beige version of my beloved Prima Donna Deauville bra to try on to verify my size. I had been worried that all this weight loss would mean a reduction in my well-endowed chest, so I was thrilled to discover that while my band size had gone down, my cup size had remained the same and I was now a 36G/34H depending on the style of bra.

I tend to stay with black and beige colors, but when Sara brought over this cute red number I just had to try it on; and it was love at first fit. I can safely say my love affair with molded bras is over and I’m now all about the sheer and lacy!

The bra I bought was a Panache Superbra Tango II. It made my chest look amazing! I wore it out that night on a pub-crawl and seriously could not stop checking myself out. It lifts, separates, gives amazing support and looks beautiful. I’m quickly learning that a good bra is not determined by the type of fabric used so much as by the construction, and Panache makes an amazing bra that looks and fits as good as the more expensive Prima Donna, but for half the price.

Thank you so much to Sara who helped me out and introduced me to some other amazing styles as well. If you live in the LA area and you are a D cup or above, you must take a trip to Jenette Bras and get yourself something gorgeous!

Calling all Curvy Girls…. Today’s the day….. Log on to Curvy Kate USA’s Facebook page to enter yourself into their “Star in a Bra” Model Search. For more information (or to learn about past “Star in a Bra” Contests in the UK and in Australia,) log on to Curvy Kate’s official website.

“Buying a phone’s a big deal. I mean, think about how long you’ll have this thing. It’s like buying a car or a bra.”
She snaps her bra strap.
“Eight years, man.”
– Zooey Deschanel on New Girl

There are two things my mother tried to instill in me when it came to money – the importance of living within your means and, when it comes to certain items, cheaper is not always better. The first lesson took me a long time to learn. As for the second lesson, at the time, my mother was explaining why she was spending so much money for Le Creuset cookware and a Kitchenaid food processor. She felt it was worth it to spend more money for something dependable and that would work better than it’s cheaper cousin.

For the longest time I’ve always tried to go the cheap route when it comes to clothes to keep within my means. And for the longest time I saw purchasing a bra as no different from purchasing underwear. Just something there to wear under your clothes until you wear it out and find another one. And the marks on my shoulders from the straps digging in, the constant adjusting, the boob seepage underneath the bra and the lack of support were just considered par for the course for a full figured gal like myself.

Since starting these reviews for Moira and learning everything she and other women in her field have taught me, I’ve realized that buying a bra is not like buying any other piece of clothing. Buying a bra when you have large breasts is more equivalent to buying a pair of running shoes. Sure, you can go cheap. And then you can suffer from nerve damage in your leg and sciatica like I did when I started running in cheap shoes that, despite the fancy name brand, turned out to have no arch support whatsoever.

When you go to a good shoe store to get running shoes, they don’t just throw you a pair and say, “Here you go.” You try them on, go running around the block in them, try on a couple different pairs until you find one that fits comfortably, feels good and gives you the support you need. And often you may find that the right pair is going to be about $100, but it’s totally worth the investment. I’ve discovered recently that it can be the same for bras.

When I first found myself paying $60 for some of these bras, I went through some sticker shock. Having always been used to keeping my apparel purchases to $30 and under, it seemed absurd to pay so much. But these amazing bras fit well and gave me great support and it was worth the investment to feel comfortable and look good. But to pay over $100? No way!!

Well, maybe…

Prima Donna Deauville Full Cup Underwire Bra

I was fortunate enough to have been given a lovely Prima Donna Deauville bra recently. I about choked when I saw the $138 sticker price. Craziness! Who would pay that much for a bra? Well, it turns out I would now. I have to say that out of all the bras I have, I live in my Prima Donna bra the most. Not just as everyday wear, but I get more support from that bra than any of my sports bras. Thought it’s definitely a fancier bra, I always wear it when I go cycling since I never have to worry about an errant boob knocking me in the face when I hit a bump in the road.

And it looks gorgeous! I have a couple tops that I’ll wear with it that give just a little peak of the lace pattern when I go out with my girlfriends just to feel a little sexy and flirty. So often it seems that I have to choose between pretty and functional when bra shopping, but with this one I get both in one amazing package.

So while I will still be looking for more affordable styles, I don’t mind saving up to splurge on a couple more Prima Donna bras because they are so worth the investment. Because every woman deserves at least one amazing bra that makes her feel and look gorgeous.

Enid Wearing a Pinstripe Skirt; Looking Professional - More Businesswoman than Streetwalker!

When I was visiting Moira in New York, she decided to stop by a lingerie store and, while talking to the owner, we got on the topic of plus size lingerie or more specifically why they didn’t carry them. They had a great location, lots of foot traffic, but the owner told us that plus size stuff just didn’t sell.

I wanted to be all indignant and outraged about it, but I started thinking about my own shopping habits and realized that she may have a point. When I go shopping for clothing, I tend to stick with places where I know for a fact that they carry my size. Even if it’s a place where often the majority of the items are not to my liking and I have to dig to find something that I want. (I never set foot into an Old Navy until I saw a woman at a club in this cute outfit my size that I had to have and she informed me that she had gotten it there.)

I very rarely will venture into a new store unless I’ve found out from someone else that they carry my size or a friend drags me in to look. I just want to avoid going in to a store to shop only to have some popsicle-stick look me up and down and then dismiss me with a “We don’t carry anything in YOUR size.” It’s bad enough going into department stores and trying to find a certain style of dress only to have some woman shove me into a back corner where a bunch of shapeless, black “dresses” hang and tell me, “That’s all we got.”

Melissa McCarthy said it best. If you are a plus size woman, your options are limited to flowery grandmother or streetwalker. I’m not big on flowers and I prefer to dress using the Edith Head philosophy – “Your dresses should be tight enough to show you’re a woman and loose enough to show you’re a lady.” But the options in my size tend towards sausage or potato sack. If I could afford Marina Rinaldi, I’d buy their fashions in a heartbeat, but I can’t even afford to take all my off-the-rack purchases straight to a tailor to have them fitted, (school loans trump vanity every time) so I can only choose a few key items to be fixed every so often.

Enid's Wish List - a Marina Rinaldi dress

Even more disappointing is that the few popular plus size chain stores out there carry very little in the styles that I want to wear. Yes, I do work in post production and I can get away with jeans and a T-shirt or yoga pants and a henley. However, they say dress for the job you want, not the job you have; and I prefer something a little more dressy. Pencil skirts to my knees with button-up blouses, pin striped slacks, a checked dress jacket over a red silk top, knee-high boots and a colourful, geometric patterned dress – these are a few of my favorite things…

At one store where most of the merchandise seemed aim to a more goth crowd, I was able to dig up this amazing pin striped skirt that is one of my prize possessions. At another store which opts to sell clothes in mostly primary colors (I’m more of an autumn palate myself), I found some really nice fitting slacks that I bought in brown and black. And lately I’ve discovered that the colors purple and mauve really suit me, and I’ve been trying to add more into my wardrobe.

But finding all of this takes a lot of time and effort and there are some days when I could just cry because all I want is a simple black dress in a certain style that I see widely available for smaller sizes, yet trolling an entire mall for the day yields nothing in my size.

For now, I can only rely on the tried and true method. If I see a woman my size wearing something amazing then I ask her where she got it. Or else I just pick a weekend, clear my schedule, wear comfy shoes, pack a water bottle and a Powerbar, and start digging through the racks until I find that hidden gem.

I would love to hear what you think. But even more importantly I would love to find out where you’ve found some amazing piece of clothing so I can go get one, too. Let me know about your awesome finds or your own tips for shopping for a plus size figure

Valentine’s Day is coming up and for some of you that might mean dressing up for a night out with your guy. For me, it means paying a $20 cover charge to go to an overcrowded bar in Beverly Hills with some of my single friends where the majority of the guys will be looking for someone a bit more model-like but, after a few drinks and a few strike outs, they will start thinking that perhaps the big breasted curvy gal might be desperate enough to put out. Of course being that the drinks are so over-priced, I will not be nearly drunk enough to actually consider their offer and they’ll do the sour grapes thing, and my friends and I will laugh about it.

The one thing in common in both scenarios is that we are trying to dress to impress and, as always, part of that perfect outfit involves a bra. And if you live in LA where the temperatures are a bit more moderate (as I write this in February, the temperature is in the mid 70’s), your outfit may include something strapless or off the shoulder. And if you are blessed with a larger cup size, the question becomes do I wear a strapless bra or stick with the straps?

Gravity is not your friend when your cup runneth over and though it’s the band that holds your girls up and not the straps, the straps can often seem to make the difference between wearing a bra and wearing a bra as a belt. For years I’ve avoided strapless outfits of any kind because invariably the strapless bra would end up around my hips at some point, especially if any kind of dancing was involved.

At the same time, wearing a regular bra also wouldn’t do. While I’ve seen plenty of women baring their straps without a qualm, given that the straps on large cup sizes tend to be more utilitarian than decorative, for me doing so was out of the question. And then two great things happened: I Googled and I went to New York.

Enid at Bra La Mode's Debut Intimate Affair

At the end of January, I flew to New York for Bra La Mode’s Debut Intimate Affair at Bra*Tenders. Moira was bound and determined to have them fit me for some new bras so as the event drew to a close, Cristal took me into one of the fitting rooms and brought me several different styles and brands to try out. The first discovery is that as I have been slowly losing weight, so have my breasts. I’m now down to a 38F/38G depending on the style and brand of bra.

I love the Fantasie brand bras and ended up with this lovely black strapless (Style # FL4530.) It’s a snug fit, but I could jump on a trampoline wearing it and it’d still stay put. The one thing that amazed everyone was the support. I came out of the dressing room wearing a cami over it and people thought I was wearing a push-up of some sort and no one believed it was a strapless. (Seriously, people came in the dressing room so they could see the actual bra on me.)

Also prior to my visit to New York, I had also received the Va Bien Ultra-Lift Strapless Convertible which also has great staying power. I have a friend who wears this brand and swears by it. The only thing to be aware of is that the cup sizes can run large so be sure to try it on before you buy. I ordered it in my old size and it ended up being a bit big for me so I’ll be getting myself a new one because it’s a great bra.

Of course, even with a good fitting strapless, sometimes it’s just nice to have those straps either as a back up just in case or, as I’ve recently discovered, as another type of accessory. A friend of mine used to order these beaded bra straps to wear with her lacy tank tops in the summer. Interested in trying them out for myself, I Googled “beaded bra straps” and found ExposedEnvy.com.

Exposed Envy sells decorative bra straps of all sorts – beads, rhinestones, fabric, gems and even just metal. I don’t wear a lot of jewelry as my skin tends to react badly to the metal in chain necklaces or earrings, so I liked the idea of being able to wear something shiny and pretty that wouldn’t cause me to break out in a rash.

If you saw the pictures from the Intimate Affair, you’ll have seen me wearing an off the shoulder number with some straps made of red roses on dark silver. When I first saw them on the website, I just had to have them and they were as beautiful in person as on the website. I got a lot of compliments about them and found that they were comfortable to wear. The straps themselves are easy to fit as there is a little clasp in the back that you can use to adjust the length of the strap. I just put them on backwards the first time to get them adjusted and then I was all set to go.

At work I tried a set of beaded straps for a scoop-neck shirt that had a tendency to stretch out and become an off the shoulder number as the day went on. The beads were nice and flat so I didn’t have anything digging into my shoulder and they looked really nice so that instead of constantly pulling up my shirt to cover my bra strap, I could just focus on work and let a little strap show.

Gemstone Straps and Matching Bracelet

Exposed Envy also has matching bracelets for many of their straps. I ordered a lovely blue rhinestone set of straps which came with a matching bracelet and I can’t wait to wear them out to that Valentine’s party next weekend.

Each set of straps comes in it’s own green cloth bag which makes for easy storage since they won’t become jumbled with the other straps. And Kelly Carroll, the owner and designer, adds her own personal touch. When I made my second order and made a comment on the order form, I found a lovely handwritten note from her in reply on my receipt. I will definitely be shopping her site again.

Today, everyone in the Intimate Apparel industry is familiar with BareNecessities.com. But I grew up with them. The company was around long before they were a dot com. Initially, Bare Necessities was a well established family-run, brick-and-mortar retailer with a few boutiques in central New Jersey. I remember them as the intimate apparel store you visited if you needed specialty intimate apparel that couldn’t be found at my local Sears or at the Monmouth Mall. My Mom took me to one of their shops for a strapless/backless bustier to wear to my junior prom. Of course, that was ages ago…. (But I think I still have that fiber-fill “contraption” tucked away in a box along with the prom dress.) Since launching as BareNecessities.com in 1998, they have emerged as the number one multi-brand online lingerie retailer. And for good reason… they have always been ‘ahead of the curve.’

As a champion of curvy girls, I am pleased to announce that Bare Necessities launched a new online boutique designed specifically for curvy women called BarePlus by Bare Necessities. And, I am honored to say that I was invited to attend their press conference at the Warwick Hotel in midtown Manhattan this afternoon where I received the news firsthand alongside fellow intimate apparel industry professionals, influential bloggers, publicists, media and press. The theme of the event was “inclusion” for E.V.E.R.Y.O.N.E.

The announcement regarding BarePlus came along with news of a Curvy Fashion Show to be hitting Fashion Week in September 2012. Jeff Grinstein, CEO of Jeff Grinstein Entertainment which is responsible for the Curvy Fashion Show, stated that the new fashion show will be a high-end couture show that is dedicated to serving the full-figure woman and that it will change Fashion Week forever.

BarePlus by Bare Necessities will feature more than 500 bras that fit sizes 38A – 56J, including everyday bras, sports bras, and sexy bra and panty sets. The website, www.bareplus.com, will offer more than 1,000 styles of plus size lingerie, hosiery and swimwear, from 81 brands including Elomi, SPANX, Bali, Wacoal, Hanky Panky and Calvin Klein.

“The launch of BarePlus reinforces our commitment to serving the woman with curves,” said Jay Dunn, Chief Marketing Officer for Bare Necessities. “The launch marks the beginning of our effort to build the best shopping experience for curvy women. Over the next several months, you’ll see more features, photography representative of our customer, and exciting new products from the world’s best brands that you won’t find anywhere else.”

BarePlus marks the first major effort executed by Dunn since joining Bare Necessities in 2011 as its first Chief Marketing Officer. Dunn came from Lane Bryant, where he had been the mastermind behind the landmark “Red Bra” ad campaign. The advertisement, which ran on American Idol, featured a plus size model flaunting a sexy red bra and panty set and became a national sensation after it was initially banned by both ABC and Fox for showing too much cleavage. The controversy ignited a national debate regarding how curvy women are portrayed in the media.

At the Intimate Affair, Jay Dunn said that many curvy women are unaware of the vast number of brands available to them. BarePlus brings all of the brands together in one place. BarePlus.com and BareNecessities.com will coexist in a tabbed shopping environment, all with a shared shopping cart and checkout process. Shoppers clicking on the BarePlus tab will see items available exclusively in plus sizes, with navigation and imagery tailored to the plus size product assortment.

Having worked in the intimate apparel industry for over a decade, I can say with confidence that BarePlus will be a true success. And, as a curvy consumer, I know that there is certainly a demand for an intimate apparel site dedicated to serving the plus size woman.

Bare Necessities….Always ‘Ahead of the Curve.’

About Bare Necessities

Bare Necessities is the second largest online lingerie retailer (only Victoria’s Secret is larger). Launched in December 1998, Bare Necessities has sold more than 5 million bras, and also offers lingerie, shapewear, swimwear, sleepwear, hosiery and men’s underwear from more than 180 brands, including Calvin Klein, Wacoal, SPANX, Hanky Panky, Chantelle, Elomi and La Perla.